On World Teacher’s Day, Graduate Women International celebrates young female teachers

Geneva, Switzerland, 5 October 2019

Today, World Teacher’s Day, Graduate Women International (GWI) joins the global community in honouring young teachers worldwide.  This year’s theme “Young Teachers: The future of the profession” is of special relevance and appeal to GWI who currently administers its Teachers for Rural Futures Programme, which supports young women to train as secondary school teachers and return to their rural communities as qualified teachers and role models for girls’ education.

“Education is crucial in the development of any country. It is also crucial that young women are offered the opportunity and incentives to become teachers. Only with unwavering commitment will leaderships produce more young women teachers and provide more girls’ the opportunity for education"

GWI President, Terry Oudraad.

GWI remains concerned about the challenges faced by young women today who want to become teachers. The teaching profession has become more difficult in the twenty-first century; it is less valued, incentives are reduced, hours are longer, resources are fewer and government commitment to producing qualified teachers is a shadow of yesteryear. As a turning point, GWI is encouraged by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are the shared blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all; notably SDG 4, that aims towards recognising teachers as key actors in the success of the 2030 Agenda.

GWI is also concerned about the lack of incentives for female teachers to continue their career path. According to Education International’s 2018 report on the ‘Global Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession’, in the United States, 41% of 50,000 teachers leave the profession during the first five years. A similar statistic or even worse can be found throughout the world. GWI underscores that more must be done to attract and retain more female teachers who stay in the profession.